The Waking Dream
by Rouxwulf
Summary: Alice Wake hasn't been the same since Alan disappeared. Is he reaching out to her through her dreams?


DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction and is for entertainment purposes only. I am in no way claiming ownership of Alan Wake: the story and its characters. It belongs to Remedy and Sam Lake etc.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first _real_ attempt at writing a fan-fic so I would appreciate any constructive advice, insights, smiley faces, frowny faces, etc…

BACK STORY: This is for any readers who haven't played the game Alan Wake. Famous writer Alan Wake has been suffering from a debilitating writers block for the past year or so. To help alleviate this affliction he and his wife Alice go to Bright Falls, Washington for a relaxing mountain getaway. They rent a cabin on Calderon Lake however, the first night of their vacation they get into a fight over Alan's writers block. Alan storms out of the cabin, leaving Alice alone, she calls for him and all the lights in the cabin go out. Alan gets makes it back to the cabin just in time to see Alice sinking to the bottom of the lake. Alice is kidnapped and held hostage by an evil entity Alan dubs as the "Dark Presence" an evil force which resides in Calderon Lake, and relies on artists and writers to make it powerful enough to manifest itself in our world.

**The Search**

Shivers run down my spine as the darkness tries to capture me in a violent embrace. The cabin was silent except for the faint tapping of the keys on Alan's typewriter.

"Alan?" I cried.

Click

"Alan! Can you hear me?"

click click click

I found him upstairs in the study. The expression on his face was empty and conveyed an indescribable type of madness. He was pale and dark circles claimed the area underneath his eyes. I knelt beside him.

"Alan?"

He stared ahead, intensely focused on nothing but the words. His deft fingers quickly tapped the keys of the typewriter. There was a loud bang and a smoky cloud of darkness slithered its way through the cabin.

I froze as I saw its inky claws reach for me. Alan kept typing, and seemed oblivious to the torrent of evil that was inching closer, and its only mission was to destroy us both.

He abruptly turned towards me.

"Go!" he shouted harshly, but immediately went back to work at his frantic writing.

The room was engulfed in darkness. It was at that moment I had the sudden, inexplicit inclination reached into my pocket. I pulled out the clicker. pressed it and a white spotlight carried me away. I was raised high in the air as Bird Leg Cabin got smaller, and eventually became veiled in darkness and disappeared.

"Alan! Alan!"

I gasped his name as I awoke from the nightmare. It was a moment before I realized that I was in our bed back home in Manhattan. The soft glow of the bedside lamp brought only a miniscule amount of comfort. My name is Alice Wake, and I suffer from Nyctophobia and since losing Alan to the bizarre events in Bright Falls it has only got worse. I was shaken from my thoughts by the buzzing sound of my cell phone vibrating against the nightstand. I checked to see whose call it was that interrupted my post-nightmare thoughts. It was Miriam Ryder head of publishing at Remedy Books.

"Hello?"

"Hey Alice, how ya doing?"

That used to be such a simple question to answer. I couldn't even begin to explain to myself how I felt; let alone someone else. So, I gave her the same rehearsed response I've given everyone who has asked me it since Alan's disappearance.

"Fine."

She was silent for a few moments. I could tell she wanted to ask me something.

"Any news on Alan, yet?"

I couldn't help but wince. It hurt to even say the words.

"No, but Sheriff Breaker has been very helpful though."

"Well I'm sure that something is bound to turn up."

"Miri listen, I keep having nightmares where Alan is in the dark. It's like he's trapped and I don't know how to help him."

"Alice, don't get mad okay, but, I really think you need to talk to someone about this. I know it's been six months. You need to start preparing for the worst. I'm sorry but- I just think well, you might need some help moving on."

I knew that Alan was still alive, somewhere. I couldn't explain how, but I knew that he was. I could feel it, I could feel him reaching out from whatever dark prison he was trapped in. After everything I've been through and after hearing what Barry had told me about his and Alan's encounters with the dark entities that ravaged Bright Falls, it only cemented my belief even more.

There was no way she could possibly understand.

"He's still alive Miri, I know it."

There was silence on the line. I must have said too much.

"Listen Miri I'm sorry, I know you're only trying to help-I'm just- this whole thing has got me so stressed out."

"It's okay Alice, look I gotta go. Call me if you need anything okay. I mean it."

"Thanks Miri, bye."

A bitter and cynical part of me couldn't help but think the only reason Miri was vigilantly checking on me was because she's itching to get started on exploiting this dilemma. She'd probably get some hack writer to write some half-assed biography about him. She wanted to seize the opportunity while the iron was still hot. The news has all over Alan's disappearance. Headlines read: 'Bestselling novelist Alan Wake is officially considered missing.' 'Local police puzzled by mysterious disappearance of writer Alan Wake.'

I didn't bother going back to sleep.

I went in my small darkroom to develop some photos. It felt good to have something else to distract me even it was just for a little while. I was developing a roll of film from my last trip to Bright Falls. I looked at the photo I took of Alan on the ferry. I really hoped that the trip to Bright Falls would have helped him relax and find himself again. _Ding_, the timer went off it was time to start drying the last photo. Before I left Bright Falls I took a picture on the dilaptated pier of Diver's Isle. It was of Cauldron Lake. Something about it was weird though. The cabin that supposedly didn't exist was in my photograph, and it was covered in shadows. I noticed something in the background. I grabbed a magnifying glass from the desk drawer. In the two top round windows of the study I saw a ghostly figure of a man. He was reaching out, his face frozen in a scream. It was Alan. I knew then that I had to return to Bright Falls.

"Mrs. Wake? This is Sheriff Breaker"

"We've found Alan"


End file.
